*Off topic posts have been removed*

Pot, meet kettle.

Lovely story Gnasher, so good to see a sensible response to an innocent post. Your story reminds me of several times I have seen folk being chased by sheep, it's always hilarious.

I would like to think you may, unlike others have credited me with a smidgen of common sense and decency. Putting lambs and ewes at risk, really where do people get off, dreaming up such unmitigated tosh without a shred of evidence.

Lambing for this lot is a thing of the past, they were in this part of the Downland for fattening up, next stop your dinner plates and dog food bowls.

LOL. I believe that someone who responded to this thread and voiced their concerned is a shepherd (or their partner is), so I think they might have some idea of the risks.

I have unfortunately been witness several times to sheep worrying, and also seen the horrific injuries inflicted by marauding dogs. I can understand that particularly for a shepherd this is a very emotive subject. A shepherd's point of view would very understandably be to always put your dog on a lead when around livestock. However, if you know that your dogs will completely ignore livestock and not hassle them in any way, I agree with you it is fine not to do so. After all, you know your dogs better than anyone. As long as you are absolutely sure.

With my own type of dog choice though, I do find that sheep in particular are absolutely terrified just to see such a dog ! It's as if they are thinking "blimey, that's a wolf !" They immediately panic, and start running, which can't be good for pregnant ewes. So putting the dog on the lead for me is not always the answer, just one look at Tai is enough to panic them ! In my case after the incident with Hal in Cumbria I would not choose to walk through a flock of sheep with Tai in case it spooked them, particularly if they were in lamb or with lambs. As it turned out, with those arsey tups there was no harm done, but had they been pregnant ewes it could have been a different story. However, there was a public footpath going through the field, so we did have every right to be there, and Hal was on the lead ... until he was attacked by the killer sheep !! It was very funny indeed to see the thought processes of both sheep and Tai ! I have changed my opinion now that sheep are stupid, those sheep were actually quite clever.

Dogs should always be on lead around other people`s livestock because you never know how they (the livestock) will react. A herd of sheep, or horses, or deer, could well spook and injure themselves.
I now avoid fields of cattle because they can also take great exception to dogs. I was in a country park once with a couple of friends, with 5 dogs, when the footpath went through a field with cattle in. We put all the dogs on leads and walked across. The cattle charged us. My GSD defended me and my friends` Giant Schnauzer drove off one bullock who was shoving our elderly friend into a fence (he had head injuries).
It turned out that they had already charged a cyclist and several walkers that day. We made complaint, obviously, and the farmer was warned.

Sorry but there are lots of laws where there are exceptions. Dogs, by law, have to wear a collar with a tag identifying their owners with name, address and contact details, however working dogs do not need to wear collars at all.

It would be pefectly reasonable to have a law which stated that dogs must be on lead around livestock, but with the exception of the livestock owners working dogs.

Well done. I come from farming stock, but it is one of my pet hates about farmers that they go and run a herd of bullocks in a field where a footpath runs through. Bullocks and cows with calves are notorious for chasing dogs - they are not chasing the humans, they are chasing the dogs - and it is extremely dangerous.

The best thing to do if charged by a herd of bullocks is to let the dog go. As bad as that sounds, you cannot put your life at risk. The dog can run faster than the bullocks, you cannot, unless he is elderly or there is something wrong with him, and he will divert the attention of the marauding animals. Even with sheep (as in my experience in Cumbria), a flock charging straight at you and your dog can do some serious damage. Much better is of course to avoid such a situation in the first place, but sometimes, as in my case, we have no option. Sometimes the footpath goes straight across the middle of the field, so you have no protection whatsoever.

It is a dilemma.

It would indeed be reasonable to have such a law Moobli, but at the moment, there isn't. I personally would always put any dog on a lead around livestock, because I have never ever had a dog that I could trust 100% in such a situation !

Usually if sheep follow people it is because they think they are going to be fed You would have to be extremely unlucky to be injured by a sheep, even a tup. Cows are a different story altogether!

Regarding the sheep in question, Boxer Boy - do you know for certain that those sheep are not about to start lambing? Do you know the farmer personally?